“Same As Cash” Patient Financing Or A Risky Bet?

When patients need a medical procedure, one of their largest concerns can be how to finance it. An entire industry has sprung up around this need in order to offer patients what seems like a quick and easy way to finance their surgery, dental work, or even their pet’s veterinary bill. In many cases, these traditional patient financing options can advertise “same as cash” terms that promise extended payments with no interest rates. This can lead many patients to believe that that this is an interest free promotional financing offer.

What’s really behind these offers

When you take the time to read through most of these traditional patient financing offers, you will learn that “same as cash” is not the same thing as interest free. In most cases, interest will accrue on the balance from the day of the charge. Over the months or years that the patient has to pay off the balance, interest continues to build and be compounded.

Worse, the interest rates on many of these products are not very competitive with other forms of financing. For example, people with good or excellent credit would never tolerate an interest rate of 20%-30% for a home, card, or even a credit card loan, yet that is the interest rate being applied to their balance with many traditional patient financing options. Unfortunately, many applicants don’t bother to scrutinize these rates because of the misleading “same as cash” advertising.

Then, the promotional financing period ends, and the music stops. Patients who have paid their entire balance will have their accumulated interest charges waived. Everyone else will be responsible for all of the interest charges that have accrued at the high interest rate. Those who have paid off most, or nearly all of their balance can owe hundreds of dollars of interest charges that will not be waived after that promotional financing period ends.

How the Advance Care Card is different

The Advance Care Card offers true 0% APR financing for as long as 14 months. Cardholders do not accrue any interest charges on their procedure during this promotional financing period, regardless of whether or not they are able to fully pay off their balance before the standard interest rates apply. Then only the remaining unpaid balance is subject to the standard interest rate, and there is never any penalty interest rate.

Furthermore, the Advance Care Card offers applicants a competitive range of interest rates, depending on their credit worthiness at the time of the application. In this way, those who have good or excellent credit do not have to worry about paying the same interest rate as those with lesser credit scores.

Other reasons to consider the Advance Care Card

Patients can be approved immediately for this card, and then schedule their procedure. Customer service is also excellent, with 100% US based telephone representatives. In addition, cardholders will automatically have their first late payment fee waived, rather than being penalized for the slightest mistake.

Conclusions

Doctors frequently advise patients that there is always risk with any major surgery. It is difficult enough to worry about that risk without having to consider the risk of incurring huge interest charges with traditional patient financing options. By using the Advance Care Card instead, patience can know for sure that they will enjoy a truly interest free promotional financing period and not be burdened with costly interest charges if they fail to pay off their entire balance in time.